Can love and compassion coexist with conflicting worldviews? The controversies surrounding Jeffrey Holland’s speech at Southern Utah University and the legal battle at Franciscan Health offer a thought-provoking exploration of this important issue.
A retrospective on Elder Jeffrey Holland’s BYU staff talk and what the fierce response by some suggests about this distinctive school’s place in the ailing American university system.
I chat with Greg Matsen of the Cwic show about Elder Holland’s BYU talk. We talk politics, CRT, religion and teaching policy. Fun to agree-and disagree-with him!
In Faith Matters’ podcast, “Elusive Unity at BYU,” Church teachings about sexuality and the family are characterized as in profound conflict with the “real experiences” of Latter-day Saints identifying as LGBT+. In what ways might unexamined assumptions about identity be contributing to this same divide?
It seems at times that American discourse is so engrossed in the intersectional categories of people (e.g., “that gay BYU student”), that we hardly see the unique person underneath the label anymore.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s remarks at BYU revealed an already-existing conflict over how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its critics conceive of identity. As prophets affirm repeatedly, our true identity existed long before any of our present experiences, and is remembered, more than discovered.
A BYU-Idaho professor writes to his students about the role of belonging, safe-spaces, and pride imagery.
In the wake of Elder Holland’s BYU talk, I can’t help but wonder—what would LGBT+ Advocacy “bathed in the light of the gospel” look like?
Recent criticism of Elder Holland’s remarks show us that anyone can be made an enemy, but the tradeoff is a world where the most vulnerable are taught they have very few friends.
The Elder Holland I have known and loved for decades bears no resemblance to the cruel and unfair characterizations now being made about him. After his lifelong example of charity, he deserves a more generous response.
